Our Volunteers

Little Haven has a dedicated band of over 120 Volunteer members who work across a wide range of areas: patient support, assisting in the chemotherapy unit, cleaning & maintenance, office support, on our management committee or playing an essential role in raising much needed funds. No matter how great or small your contribution may be, you can be sure its effect will add strength to our service and ripple out to the community. Your gift of time enables Little Haven to make a difference to the lives of those facing their toughest hour.

In the Little Haven organisation, everyone counts. Little Haven complies with the Australian Standards for Volunteering and ensures that our dedicated band of over 100 active volunteers are specifically trained for their chosen roles.

Little Haven volunteers currently work over four streams: Management; Clinical; Administrative and Fundraising – Each stream a vital part of the organisation either providing direct hands on care or making good work happen by their behind the scenes help.

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. Aesop

Volunteers who can provide advice and leadership serve on the Little Haven Management Committee providing the necessary governance to steer the organisation. Each member of the Management Committee has particular skills they bring to Little Haven which could be knowledge of palliative care, medicine, fundraising, finance, management or representatives of our community.

Meet the 2018 / 2019 Committee

Volunteers wishing to provide empathetic support and comfort are trained for their roles in respite care or chemotherapy and renal dialysis support under the guidance of the Respite Coordinator and Clinical Coordinator.

Our Complementary Therapists also provide invaluable support and comfort to our palliative clients and bereaved, giving of their time and skills freely.

Our administrative support volunteers keep things running smoothly in the office and cut down on costs for the organisation. Duties include; office and equipment cleaning and maintenance, admin support, filing, looking after the library etc.

Every volunteer who may have contact with a patient or carer always has a direct line of communication to a Little Haven staff member who is available to offer help if this is needed.

Our army of fundraisers who make our good work possible are granted an extraordinary degree of autonomy matched with a high level of trust not often experienced in charitable organizations. Once a fundraising idea has been approved, the volunteers concerned run their own event under the guidance of a leader they elect, subject to the approval of Little Haven. Often Little Haven may have two, three, or even four major fundraisers running concurrently, each under the direction of each group’s own elected leader. While this system may be unusual it works extremely well, with different groups of fundraisers working at what they best love to raise funds for an organization they support wholeheartedly.

Little Haven entered an exciting new era with the opening of our Market Place at 68a Crescent Road in May. Our Market Place volunteers work tirelessly to keep the store stocked with furniture, electrical goods, tools and all the household items, crafts, linens, clothing, plants and bric-a-brac you have come to expect from our pop-up shops in Mary Street.
All funds raised go directly to funding our specialist community based palliative care service.

You will often find Little Haven professional staff volunteering for any Little Haven fundraiser that needs an extra pair of hands and our Business Manager, Sue Manton, is no exception. Sue manages the Event Crew, a happy band of volunteers who cater for events held usually at nights or on weekends through the Gympie region where all profits raised go to Little Haven.

Little Haven volunteers work in so many different areas you are sure to find there is always some individual skill that you have that will be appreciated by Little Haven, whether it is bbq’ing a sausage, baking cakes and slices, making a coffee, knitting a rug for a chemo patient, delivering medical equipment, helping to run the Melbourne Cup Race Day, or running a market stall.

All Little Haven volunteer members are required to attend Little Haven’s Orientation program to fully understand our Mission, Vision and Values, as every member of the organisation has a responsibility to maintain Little Haven’s outstanding reputation for service in our community.

Little Haven also receives the support of many other community volunteers to assist with our calender of events or fundraising activities; including Service Club members, High School Students, the Happy Wrappers to name a few. We simply could not function without the wonderful support of our volunteer members and the community volunteers.